Tiraspol. 1 September. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. The Palace of Republic has hosted today a grand meeting dedicated to the 27th anniversary of Pridnestrovie. President Vadim Krasnoselsky devoted the bulk of his speech to the economic situation.
The president noted that the economic situation had been critical at the beginning of 2017. High tax burden, a budget deficit of over 20% of GDP, negative balance of foreign exchange assets and central bank liabilities were aggravated by the use of «grey schemes», the opacity of government spending and inefficient monetary policy.
«Taken together, this situation had a negative impact on the Pridnestrovian economy. In the past two years, the industrial output had declined by 20%, exports by 26%, imports by 47%, and the retail turnover had fallen by 27%," recalled the president.
The measures taken by the government had somewhat improved the situation: major macroeconomic indicators showed a positive trend as of July 2017.
Thus, the industrial output, excluding electricity production, grew by 31%. There was an output increase in most of the industries,
including steel industry (79%), mechanical engineering and metalworking (48%), construction materials production (9%), light industry (10%), food industry (14%).
«It is important to note that all grey schemes in the work of enterprises and the state finance sector have been eliminated since the start of the year. The work of some affiliates of natural monopolies has become more transparent, which has resulted in over 200 million roubles being allocated to the special gas account," underscored the president.
Krasnoselsky noted that those indicators had also affected the foreign economic activities of Pridnestrovie.
Exports as a whole increased by 2% (by 30% excluding electricity); the supply of Pridnestrovian goods to Russia increased by 50% Exports also increased by 2%.
Among the achievements, the president also noted the creation of new jobs: the number of individual entrepreneurs grew by almost 1,500 people; about 400 jobs were created in the agricultural sector and 100 more jobs in the light industry.
«The leadership will continue its work to implement the above mentioned measures. It must be clearly understood that the main impact of their implementation is forward-looking and suggests a stabilisation of the situation with consequent steady economic growth," concluded the president.
